Michael L. Elliott

Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning and Public Policy

PhD Coordinator, City and Regional Planning Program

Director of Research, Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia  30332-0155

phone:  404/894-9841; fax: 404/894-1628; michael.elliott@coa.gatech.edu

Brief Bio

Michael Elliott has worked in negotiation, environmental dispute management, environmental risk management, and environmental planning and policy for 25 years.  His particular expertise lies in the design and evaluation of environmental dispute resolution and public participation processes, and in the mediation of public policy disputes. His positions include:

• Associate Professor of Environmental Planning and Policy: Appointed as assistant professor in 1984 to Georgia Tech's City and Regional Planning Program; promoted to associate professor and jointly appointed to the School of Public Policy in 1991.

• Director of Research for CNCR:  Co-founder and Associate Director of the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, 1987 - 1997.  Director for Research, 1997 - present. CNCR develops and tests innovative techniques for consensus building; conducts research into complex organizational and public policy disputes; and builds the capacity of communities, institutions and individuals to manage conflict more productively.

•  Director of SNN: Co-founder and co-director of the Southeast Negotiation Network (1986 - 1999).  Director (1999 - present). SNN provides a neutral forum and experienced mediators and facilitators for resolving environ­mental, policy and planning disputes.

Education

Ph.D. Urban and Regional Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984.

M.C.P.  City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley, 1978.

B.S.  Urban Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974.

B.S.  Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1974.

Selected Experience

Research, Evaluation and Dispute Systems Design

Societal Effects of Collaborative Decision-Making - Examined the impact of environmental conflict resolution institutions on public choice, civic culture and environmental management systems.

The Framing of Intractable Environmental Disputes - Examined the impact of environmental justice concerns on conflict dynamics.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Environmental Negotiations, Regulatory Negotiations and Policy Dialogues - Performed evaluations on several national and state-level programs, including:

• US EPA efforts to improve stakeholder involvement and cleanup at Brownfields sites

• stakeholder involvement activities related to Project XL, an innovative US EPA regulatory program,

• the US EPA Non-Road Small Engine negotiated rulemaking process,

• US EPA Community Based Environmental Protection training efforts,

• the US EPA Carpet Policy Dialogue, and

• the facility siting mediation process established under the Georgia Solid Waste Management Act.

International Consultations in Environmental Dispute Systems Design - Worked to promote environmental and land policy dispute resolution systems in:

• Israel (1998 - present): worked with the Consensus Building Institute, Israel Center for Negotiation and Mediation, Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information, and Israel's Ministry of the Environment on dispute systems design and capacity building, particularly as related to initiating the Joint Environmental Mediation Service (a joint Palestinian/Israeli mediation group).

• Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Russia (1991 - 1997): worked with the International Programs Consortium, the US EPA, the US Information Agency, the US Institute for Peace, and international counterparts on the management of international water disputes (Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea) and, in Estonia, more broadly on the design and integration of domestic environmental management systems with dispute management systems.

• Nicaragua (1994 - 1995): worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the Carter Center to design dispute management systems for resolving land tenure and property ownership conflicts.

• Germany (1993 - 1997): process consultant for Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung to explore the transferability of U.S. environmental mediation experience to Germany.

Pollution Prevention in Corporate Decision Making - Investigated the role of pollution prevention in corporate decision making for the US EPA Hazardous Substances Research Center in Region 4.

Beneficial Use of Dredged Materials - For the US EPA, Army Corps of Engineers and state environmental and natural resource agencies, examined decision making processes used to resolve conflicts concerning the beneficial uses of dredged materials from waterways.

Mediation and Facilitation

Marble Top Site, Superfund Cleanup Remedy and  Shaver's Farm Site, RCRA Remediation Cleanup Remedy - Mediated the cleanup remedy decision among multiple stakeholders, including the PRP, local community members, and government agencies.

Environmental Management of Concentrated Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs) - Mediator and facilitator for stakeholders concerned with environmental regulation of CAFOs by the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources.

Atlanta Solid Waste Management Planning - Mediated the solid waste management planning process for the Atlanta Solid Waste Advisory Commission.

Big Cypress National Preserve - Served as a mediator between US National Park Serve and the Florida Fish and Game Commission to resolve a dispute involving the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Community Advisory Panels - Facilitate community advisory panels that promote dialogue between community members and chemical manufacturing facilities in Chattanooga and Memphis, TN and in Chestertown, MD.

Atlanta Parks Management Planning - Facilitated the Mayor's Green Ribbon Committee that was tasked with developing a management plan for Atlanta parks.

Other mediations and facilitations include issues associated with Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation; growth management and urban development in Dalton GA and Ashville NC; red-cockaded woodpecker preservation; access to health care in the State of Georgia; PCB and Superfund-contaminated sites in Anniston, AL and Jacksonville, FL;  groundwater protection strategy development in Region 4 of the US EPA.; and resource recovery facilities in New York City.

Public Policy and Environmental Dispute Resolution Trainer

Designed and conducted over 40 continuing education courses to train professionals and stakeholders in negotiation and dispute resolution.

Affiliations

• Practitioner Member, Association for Conflict Resolution.

• Member, American Planning Association, National Association of Environmental Professionals, and International Association for Conflict Management.

Additional Achievements

Recipient of the College of Architecture's Mid-Career Achievement Award, 1999.

Recipient, Georgia Tech Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award in recognition for "pioneering work in developing interdisciplinary collaborations and programs in research and teaching at Georgia Tech," 1991.

Finalist, Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989.

Recipient, Georgia Planning Association Merit Award, 1988. 

Previous Employment History

Research Associate, Tufts University Center for Environmental Management, 1984.

Fellow, Joint Center for Urban Studies of MIT and Harvard University, 1980 - 1984.

Instructor and Research Director, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, 1978 - 1983.

Executive Assistant for Program Development, New York City Mayor's Office of Economic Development, 1977 - 1978.

Environmental Planner, Marin County Department of Environmental Services, California, 1975 - 1976.

Program Planner, The Design Office of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1973 - 1974.

Publications

Over 50 publications, including two books, focus on dispute resolution, public participation and environmental management. The books include:

• Lewicki, Roy, Barbara Gray, and Michael Elliott, editors. Making Sense Of Intractable Environmental Conflicts. (Island Press, 2003), and

• Susskind, Lawrence, Michael Elliott, and Associates. Paternalism, Conflict and Co-Production:  Learning from Citizen Action and Citizen Participation in Western Europe (Plenum Press, 1983).

Articles and chapters include:

• Elliott, Michael (forthcoming). Risk Perception Frames in Environmental Decision Making. Environmental Practice.

• Elliott, Michael and Sanda Kaufman (forthcoming). Building Civic Capacity to Resolve Environmental Conflicts. Environmental Practice.

• Lewicki, Roy, Barbara Gray, and Michael Elliott, editors (2003). Making Sense Of Intractable Environmental Conflicts. (Island Press).

• Michael Elliott, Sanda Kaufman, Robert Gardner and Guy Burgess (2002). Teaching Conflict Assessment and Frame Analysis Through Interactive Web-Based Simulations. The International Journal of Conflict Management (13:4, pp. 320-340).

• Elliott, Michael (1999). The Use of Facilitators, Mediators, and other Professional Neutrals, chapter 6 in Consensus Building Handbook:  A Comprehensive Guide To Techniques And Strategies, edited by Lawrence Susskind, Susan Carpenter, and Sarah McKearnan (Sage Publishing).

• Elliott, Michael (1999). Reconceiving Historic Preservation in the Modern City:  Conflict and Consensus Building in Atlanta.  Journal of Planning and Architectural Research.  16:2, 149-163.

• Elliott, M.  (1998) The Use of Mediation to Resolve Environmental Disputes in the United States. in Alternative Dispute Resolution in Environmental Conflicts: Experiences in 12 Countries, Helmut Weidner, ed. (Berlin: edition sigma, pp. 56-64).

• Elliott, Michael (1998) Impacts of Institutionalized Mediation on a Waste Incinerator Siting Dispute: The Case of Quitman County, Georgia in Alternative Dispute Resolution in Environmental Conflicts: Experiences in 12 Countries, Helmut Weidner, ed. (Berlin: edition sigma, pp. 65-83).

• Foley, Carol and Michael Elliott (1995). Systems Design and the Promotion of Pollution Prevention: Building More Effective Technical Assistance Programs, Georgia Law Review 29(2): 449-471.

• Elliott, Michael (1995). Alternative Dispute Resolution in the USA.  Alternative Konflikt-regelungs-verfahren bei der Planung und Implementation großtechnischere Anlagen, Katharina Holzinger and Helmut Weidner, ed. (Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, pp 31-52).

• Elliott, Michael (1994).  The Use of Mediation to Resolve Environmental Disputes: Growth, Experience and Institutional Transformation in the United States.  in Mediation: Als Politischer und Sozialer Prozess.  Andreas Dally et al, eds. (Loccum, Germany: Evangelische Akademie Loccum, 113 - 126).